Such wondrous things blossomed in the wider world outside of Grefe.

Up to tonight, Luna's image of a forest had been that of the feeding grounds, a snarled place of choking vines and overgrown, suffocating vegetation, where each step forward was an effort and a gamble. Even when Luna had been far smaller, the feeding grounds had been a place difficult to navigate and rife with dangers unseen.

This Cauldron forest was not difficult to navigate, but no less dangerous for it. It wore danger like an unseen shell, the promise of violence hidden in carefully constructed silences and still shadows.

The trees reached high up to the sky, their lowest branches barren while the tallest were thick with foliage, all of it painted a raw, vital green. They shone in the light of fireflies guiding Luna's steps.

And there was even more life among the leaves. Things flitted through the high canopy, darted across the branches, hissed and chattered in animal tongues. Their voices echoed and seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere all at once. Luna's many eyes found them easily in their play, but couldn't focus on any, not for long enough to gain more than an impression of what the beasts were.

Strange and curious was the forest. Yet it felt safe.

Luna's hairs bristled atop its shell. The forest felt safe because that's how it wanted to be felt. It was as direct a statement as an immobile monument to nature could ever make.

For once, Luna didn't have to cringe beneath the oppressive naked openness of the sky. It didn't have to cling to the ground so as to not be sucked up into that empty void filled with stars. Here, the ceiling of the forest was a pleasant reminder of home. No stars shone their light through the canopy.

In their place, there were the flowers. Luna, used to the unchanging nature of Mother's flowers, couldn't help but be unnerved by how these sprouted, blossomed, withered and died in the span of a few steps. Some were simple, small, and frail. Others were full-bodied, their irises as big as a human head. They showed up on tree bark, on vines, among leaves, like many eyes watching their advance and guiding the path forward together with the flying lights. An invitation, clear as day, terrifying as friend Tallah's anger.

Tharamor walked in front of Luna, axe held in both hands, head swivelling left and right, nostrils always flaring. He didn't like the smell of the forest.

Luna didn't either, if it were honest. Old, rotten wood laden with moss, the unmistakable scent of hidden fungi, soft earth, dead leaves, and blood. A lot of blood. It coated the forest, exuded from the leaves, rose from the ground like fine mist. It was everywhere, though there were no corpses in sight.

Luna catalogued all it saw and stored it away for later consideration. The flowers, the floating lights, the many skittering creatures, the feeling of being followed. And now, just as the dark became inscrutable and the fireflies drifted apart, the corpses hanging from the branches.

Blood dripped from above, turning real the promise of the smell. Warm. It fell like gentle rain onto the ground as the four walked beneath the hung victims.

Luna studied these. Fyaras, but none it had ever seen before. None of them were of its small clan.

There were also humans. Or things that looked human-like. They still writhed where they lay impaled on broken wood.

Dark vines wrapped tight limbs and torsos. Skin fluttered in the gentle night breeze, hanging off corpses in ragged tatters, the insides exposed to the air. Organ meat and entrails hung from the canopy almost to the ground. Plenty of those unfortunates still drew ragged breathe, moaning in anguish.

Only the fyaras. Not the human-like. Those just writhed and squirmed and twisted, bones cracking, muscles ripping. They watched vines descend from the branches on the nearest such fighter, wrap tight around its body, and squeeze until the body burst like a blood-filled bladder.

Luna could reconstruct the earlier battle from just a glance, though it knew nothing of all those present. Scouts had come into the forest, and the forest had welcomed them. Had allowed them passage. Maybe even guided them. Up to here. Where the forest had shed its mantle of benevolence, struck first, and struck decisively.

Beneath Luna's gaze, another body was split in two, the vines twisted around each half retreating somewhere into the dark with their prize.

There had been no screams. No struggled.

"Bad. Place," Tharamor said in a whisper. "Dangerous place. Vile. Evil."

"We are vile too," Luna said, unperturbed by the spectacle. "We continue."

The forest could have hidden this from their eyes, lead them down a different path, make sweet promises of safety and kindness. Instead, it had shown brutality and power. Luna did not believe it meant them harm, at least not yet. The feeling remained lodged beneath Luna's shell, the invitation singing in its mind, a silent song that only became louder as they followed the trail of blooms.

"Come," the forest was saying. "Come. Safe. Come. Promise. Come. Much to say. Much to do. Come."

There were no words, of course. The forest had no voice yet, aside from the creak of wood, the whisper of wind, the crack of bone, and the drip of blood. But, all the same, Luna heard the words as clearly as if Tharamor was speaking them.

The other fyaras were little better. Their scent was acrid with fear, but they did not hesitate in obeying. Instead, they spread out to cover each of Luna's sides.

Not far off, other figures emerged through the gloom. More fyaras, all of them of Luna's tribe. They were guided by flowers and were bright enough to follow the path set out. Some growled in fear. Some whimpered. None lagged.

"Head the others," Luna said to Howler. "Order them to remain behind us. Never ahead. Go."

Commands came easier now. The thick crust of leadership felt heavy and unwieldy, but not unbearable. Daylight thoughts returned to Luna, of what to do and how to escape this place, and with them the barest hint of hesitation with regards to its awakened. For now, they were proving themselves undaunted. That was good.

"Is this still the way?" Luna asked Tharamor.

"Yes," he said, voice shaking. "Yes. Forward. My tracks in the ground. No others."

The forest was wily. Tharamor had come in with many others. Explored deep. Only one set of prints remained, an offer of trust, made to earn trust. The dialogue was already rich with meanings.

Humans liked words. To a lesser degree, they also spoke with their bodies. But for them, words were the main means of communication, and their words hid many meanings that often contradicted.

Luna and the Kin did not much like words. Poisoned gift of the false mother. They liked rhythms and scents and vibrations. Clear meanings.

The forest liked meaning too by the looks of things. Meaning layered on meaning. "Trust," the forest said. "Trust, for I could destroy you and I choose not to," the forest meant. "Trust, for I know you and I know your mind. But you do not know me, and that could be your undoing. And still, I do not strike."

There was much said in the silence between the tall, gnarled trees. Luna hoped it rightly interpreted the meaning of it all. It would be such stupidity to end up destroyed after already surviving the siege of the human nest.

Luna appreciated the forest's guidance. Whatever this invitation was, it assumed it in good faith. Those other things, strewn up and hollowed out, were enemies. They were danger, both to Luna and to the forest. There was a common enemy to be resisted and fought off.

By the time they reached the clearing, Luna believed it had a pretty good expectation of what the forest wanted to offer, and what it would demand in return.

One of the moons hung in the centre of the sky, its pale light reflected in the small lake that occupied a narrow strip of land devoid of trees. Tharamor moved cautiously ahead, still following the tracks it had left the previous day.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Luna catalogued access to fresh water. Another promise made by the forest. Here was life, and it lay deep within the protection the forest provided. On the other side of the water there were animals come to drink, strange, lithe creatures that paid no mind to the intruders. Here was food, offered freely.

"We stop here," Luna declared, feeling the call lowering to a whisper now. "We wait. Tell the others."

Gorebiter melted back into the woods without a word, eager to obey. Maybe eager to be away.

Luna and Tharamor advanced farther into the clearing, walking on the soft turf while gentle waves lapped at the shore. Flowers led them to a tiny peninsula that stabbed into the lake's surface. The flowers pooled there, a carpet of glittering colours.

A pure invitation.

"Remain here."

Luna didn't check if Tharamor obeyed. It stepped onto the strip of land and headed for the flowers. Its feet got wet, but it didn't care.

The flowers bloomed and withered, shone with countless colours, and even some Luna had never seen before. They formed a perfectly round disc onto which Luna did not yet walk.

A pulse of power went out as the spider approached. Luna felt it setting its bristles aflutter, and tasted illum in the air, rich with both life and death. Friend Tallah sometimes smelled like that.

Then the water stirred. It bubbled. Then it frothed.

Animals raised their heads on the far shore, then they all bolted for the safety of the trees.

The water sank. Formed a whirlpool and drained just past the lip of the peninsula.

Something rose from the depths. It set a massive limb upon the flowers and hauled itself up onto dry land. It dripped dead leaves and stinking mud, and was an apparition that would've frightened Luna in a different life.

This was a creature of bark and bone and spoiled, waterlogged meat. It walked on four legs, the front longer and larger than the back. In silhouette it resembled one of the quick runners that Luna knew from the forest of Grefe, the animals that grazed on the rich leaves there.

This one did not look a grazer. Its head was bark and bone, a grinning skull that resembled no animal Luna had seen yet. Two large antlers crowned its head, white bone adorned with refuse and strips of cloth and skin.

The smell of it was of old death and new blooms. The sound it made was the creaking of wood and the hiss of waves breaking against shore.

Luna did not flinch as the creature emerged fully, advancing towards the flowers on steadfast hoofed feet. The spider stared up into two glowing orbs that shone in the empty eye sockets, their light a pale, soft blue.

"I greet you, child of a distant land." The voice came from the creature, but nothing moved on its body. No throat formed the words. No lips gave them shape. They were a whisper of dead air passing through the skeletal shape, yet still formed a song Luna recognised.

"This one answers the invitation," Luna said, not moving a muscle from where it sat. It laid itself flat on the muddy ground, legs tucked beneath it. "This one heard the song and came to learn of your proposal."

That wasn't strictly true, but Luna didn't think the distinction made much difference to the avatar of the forest. Luna had come seeking shelter but found an invitation.

"You sing old songs, child," the creature said. "You sing them well."

The creature of the forest did not use human words, but sang the song of the Kin. Vibration and scent and meaning hidden behind meaning. It advanced another step until it stood on the far side of the flowers. Where its hooves touched the earth, more flowers bloomed and remained in bloom. All else around them withered to dust.

"I sing what the Kin sing," Luna answered in kind. "This is our language. It has always been our language."

The creature tilted its head to one side. Its eyes glittered. "And yet you speak the words of those others too. You speak the language of the humans and of these monsters that ravage my land."

"It is a gift we've been given, and one we loathe." Luna shivered and repressed the memory of the false mother. It didn't serve it in the moment. "Gifts are to be made use of. None else sing the songs of the Kin. None would learn them for we are not known in this world."

"I see you." The avatar leaned forward, the great head descending. "Step forward. We would speak what is not meant to be overheard."

Luna did not hesitate. It rose and stepped onto the carpet of flowers, careful not to disturb a single petal.

Once it was past the threshold, the world diminished to pale shadow and utter silence. Luna's hair bristled for a moment, then calmed. There was no danger here. It did not feel threatened.

"Your invitation was timely," Luna said. "Who are you? And how do you sing the song of the Kin?"

Luna knew it was in the presence of something old. Older maybe than the bones of Grefe, than the Makers and their civilisation. It felt that treasure of age press down on it as the forest creature advanced fully into the disc of flowers.

Friend Tallah once said that the forest had always stood there and never been destroyed, never conquered, never cut. It was part of the Cauldron as sure as the mountains were, as sure as the daemons were. It just was.

"You are so young," the avatar said. "Your Kin are young, far younger than you believe yourself to be. Yet you speak a language that was here before all others came to this land. You are young and you speak the oldest tongue. Such a curious thing you are."

"This one does not understand. How do you know?" Luna still wasn't afraid. It probably should be, but felt nothing of danger from the creature. Just a deep curiosity and an appetite to sate it.

"The forest drinks of all blood spilled on its roots. And your…" It hesitated, as if searching for the right word. "Your Knowing was spilled and tasted and unravelled. I learned much from the blood of one, but not all. You have not been trusting with your gift."

It extended a hoofed limb. Meat grew on the branch-like appendage, a soft spot just perfect for a single bite form Luna.

"Will you grant me more than a distilled taste? I wish to know you fully."

"And what will you grant this one in return?" Luna demanded. "What is it you wish to discuss?"

The answer took no hesitation. "Protection. Sanctuary. Strength. Common ground against a common foe that should not be here."

Those final words were laden with much more meaning than Luna could interpret. There was anger, thick as sap. Despair. Fear. A predator's instinctual reaction against a larger predator stalking its territory. In a way, Luna was reminded of the hunters of the forest, and how they feared the library spiders. A single bite from Luna could bring down one of the great giants of the forest, and they all knew it.

It added it to the Knowing.

"Why? You gain the Knowing, but why do you offer so much in return?"

"Because a world cannot live under the rule of things such as those that come here. I know them. I remember them. I fear them. I do not want them here for they will be the end of us all."

Luna took a tentative step forward. "This one has no means to stave off the ones that come. Only one that could has gone from here. This one is alone. You know all this. Do you lie for your ends?"

The forest avatar drew its head up higher and the starlight of its eyes flared red. "I don't need lies, little spider. But I need allies. I need eyes. Mine are not best suited for the tasks I need."

"And what are those?"

"Gathering knowledge. Understanding. Preparing. We have little time before the vile ones bring here the last remnant of their conscience and set it to dark tasks."

Riddles. Luna did not much care for riddles now. It revealed its fangs and hesitated. It had barely a few drops of venom made, and it doubted this creature could be swayed by them.

But it was offering safety. And it needed what Luna also needed: to learn and to plan. Luna could help it. If the eyes the forest had were of animals and trees, then they could not go where the White Ones were. Luna could. The fyaras could.

"How will we fight?" Luna asked. "How can we fight? What do you know?"

The limb rose higher and wobbled in the air. "Give me the Knowing of your Kin, and I will give you a way of finding them again. Life is everywhere. Life must be served. Life must be preserved. Those that come bring nothing but destruction. You do not serve on that altar. You and your Kin are more."

Luna thought of the forest of Grefe. Were its roots deep enough for this creature to find them? There was no other way that it could imagine for how the Kin could be contacted.

"This one will give you the Knowing, if you add to it. How do you know our song?"

"I will tell you, once I know you. I must be certain of you."

"And this one must be certain of you. Which should give? Which should bend?"

The forest fell silent and regarded Luna with an odd expression, though nothing moved on its skull face. There was suspicion there, a small hesitation even.

What had the forest to give that it was unwilling to? And why was it so desperate that it would consider it?

"Here is something you may not know, little spider," it finally said, voice lowered, older. "I give you this to add to your Knowing: you and your Kin are the first children of this land, the first to have been born right here. All others have come to this world, but you were made here. You have the song in you because it is the song in the deep bones of the land. I sing it because I touch these bones and I know their voice. And I know they quake in fear of what's coming."

Luna considered this and found it worthy of being added into the Knowing. It understood the forest's hesitation.

If all others came here, and it was only the Kin that were born on this world, then weren't they entitled to being a part of it? Living upon it? Fighting for it? It gave an answer to Mother's question.

It sank its fangs into the white, putrid flesh, and signed the pact in venom.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.